Bottle closure



May 4 1926. 1,583,019 l E. SIMMONS BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed April 27 1925 MQ M fiTTOP/VEYS Patented May 4, 1926.

UNITED." STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELTA SIMMONS, 01' NEW YORK, N. Y.

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

Application filed April 27, 1925. Serial No. 25,996.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELTA SIMMONS, a c 1t1- zen of the United States, residing in the c1 ty, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle Closures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to closures for bottles and similar receptacles, and has for its principal object to provide a sealing cap which may be conveniently put upon the bottle, and which will seal the bottle completely, to keep its contents pure, and the upper rim clean and uncontaminated.

It is a further important object to so construct the cap that it may be applied to the bottle without inserting the fingers 111S1 d6 the cap and without touching the upper rim of the bottle. To this end provision may be made of a relatively stiflt', neck-grlpping bead, preferably located interiorly of the cap at the lower periphery thereof, and of a ta projecting from the bead inthe plane thereof which is stiff enough and is connected over an arcof suflicient extent to distribute the pull throughout the whole bead and thereby avoid narrowing of the cap opening when the tab is pulled to draw the cap onto the bottle. The tab may be provided with one or more gripping depressions.

It is a further object of the invention in one of its embodiments to provide a sealing cap of the kind referred to, having a valve' therein constructed to permit egress-but not ingress of vapors and gases, so that the contents of a bottle or other container may be sterilized by boiling, with the cap in place, and cannot thereafter be contaminated by exposure to the air.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is'a fragmentary view of a. bottle having a cap embodying-this invention applied thereto, the cap being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the cap shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 IS a view similar to Figure 1,

showing the form of cap having a valve;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap shown in Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of another form of sealing cap made in accordance,

with this invention.

Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of a cap' all the formulae and feedings for twentyfour hours at one time. The bottles and all the utensils used in preparing the formulae are sterilized and the bottles are then filled with the formulae and hermetically sealed to keep the contents pure. It has been customary heretofore to seal the bottle by stuffing a stopper of cotton or cork in its mouth. This has been effective to keep the contents pure but has left exposed to contamination the upper rim of the bottle with which the contents come in contact when a nipple is substituted.

The cap of the present invention protects this upper rim as Well as the contents of the bottle. It is important however, in this connection that the cap be applied without soiling the rim of the bottle or interior of the cap. The cap of this invention is therej fore constructed to enable it to be drawn onto the bottle without touching the bottle rim or the interior of the cap with the fingers.

The sealing cap 11 is made of elastic material, such as rubber. This cap 11 comprises a dome-shaped body portion 12 of thin rubber, provided at its lower periphery with a relatively thick, strong bead 13. This bead is capable of conforming to the bottle neck and of gripping it with sufiicient force to form a hermetic seal. In order to avoid the. necessity of inserting the fingers in the cap when drawing the bead 13 over the top flange or bead 14 of the bottle 10 a tab 15 is provided. It is a point that this tab 15 is thick enough to be fairly stiff and that it is connected to the bead 13 throughout substantially a semi-circumference thereof.

The thickness of the tab 15 and the length i ence thereof. The thickness of the tab 15' and the length of the'arcover which it is connected to the bead 13 cause the pull exerted upon the tab in drawin the cap onto a bottle to be transmitted to a 1 portions of :1V semi-circumference of the bead. substantially uniformly, so that the bead is not elongated by the pull. Such elongation of the bead would be ob'ectionable, because the bead would be straig tened to extend along chords of the bottleneck, narrowing the cap opening so that the capcould not be conveniently forced down over the flange 14.

The tab is provided with depressions 16 in its upper and lower, surfaces, to afford a firm and convenient finger grip.

The making of the tab 15 as a prolongation of the bead 13 in the plane thereof is important. The pull upon the bead is all exerted directly in the plane thereof, so that there is no tendency to cause distortion of the bead transversely of its lane, which would result innarrowing of t 1e cap opening. The laterally projecting bead can be conveniently molded, the same molds havin cavities of uniform thickness serving bot for the bead and the tab.

The bead and tab construction described may be advantageously used on a nursing nipple tofacilitate application of the nipple to the bottle and to avoid soiling the interior of the nipple and the bottom rim.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 3 and 4 a cap 17,-having a lower head 18 and a laterally projecting tab 19 is provided with a valve for permitting egress, but not ingress, of vapors or gases. The upper body ortion 20 of the cap 17 is made.

convex, and is much thicker than the remainder of the body portion. This convex portion 20 has a slot 21 at its ,center. An internal annular flange 20 is formed around the lower margin of the thickened portion 20. With this form of cap the contents of a bottle or other recepticlemay be sterilized by boiling in the bottle. The vapors generated and the air expanded inthe bottle by such sterilization will escape through the slot 21 when the inside pressure exceeds the outside pressure so that there is no tendency to blow the cap off the bottle. The slot 21 is normally closed, however, by the pressure of the thickened convex portion 20 of the IVhen the contents of a bottle have been sterilized and the bottle cools, the vapor within the bottle contracts and condenses forming a partial vacuum. The valve formed by the thickened and slotted portion 20 does not permit air to enter the bottle, however, to compensate for this reduced pressure. Instead, the outside-air pressure causes the cap to collapse, and even to be sucked down into the neck of the bottle. In this position of the cap the thickening of the portion 20 and the provision of the internal reinforcing flange 20* is especially important, because these parts maintain the convexity of the thickened portion, so that the external. air pressure, instead of forcing away through as itcould if the valve portion became concave, simply forces the sides of the slot'21 more firmly-together further assuring a perfect seal. When the bottle cap i th s for int the e k f. he t le the thin side walls of the cap 17 are wrapped around the flange 14 and are pressed firmly against the flange 14, because of the difference in the external and internal pressures. This further assures .a erfect seal between the cap and the neck 0 the bottle, so that the bottle with its contents can be stored for a long time with assurance that the seal will remain unimpaired.

The cap 22 shown in Figure 5 is similar to the cap shown in Figuresl and 2 with the exception that the bottoms of the bead 23 and the tab 24 are flat, being located entirely in one plane. Only one finger grip depresslon 25 is provided in this -form., This construction makes for economy in manufacture because the caps can be molded to final form without the formation of fins on the interior of the bead which would require individual hand trimming.

In Figure 6 there is shown a cap 26 having a balloon shaped body. Thls cap is otherwise like the cap of Figure 5. The balloon shaped body may be stretched to a considerable extent and therefore may be fitted on bottle necks of a wide variety of sizes. In this respect, however,.it differs only in degree from the other caps shown, as they too are capable of being stretched to a considerable extent if required.

While the invention has been illustrated and described with reference to babies nursing bottles, it is obviously applicable to a variety of other uses in connection with other bottles, or other similar containers, such as jars or cans. The term bottle as used in the appended claims is, therefore, intended to include these equivalent containers. The term cap is also to be construed broadly as covering nipples and like closures in 105 which the invention may be embodied.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention and parts of the improvement may be used without others.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. A sealing cap for bottles comprising a body. portion of thin elastic material, an internal reinforcing and gripping bead extending around the open periphery of the cap, and a relatively stifi' tab forming a 11 prolongation of the head in the plane thereof, whereby the cap may be pulled onto a bottle without inserting the fingers in the cap, such tab being connected to the head over substantially a semi-circumference to distribute the pull upon the bead whereby narrowing of the cap opening at the bead is avoided.

2. A cap for bottles,of elastic material, comprising a portion for gripping the neck of a bottle and sealing the opening thereof and a tab extending laterally from the cap in the plane of its lower extremity whereby the cap may be pulled onto a bottle, said tab connectedto the cap substantially through- 139 out a semi-circumference thereof and being a bottle, said tab connected to the cap stifi' enough to transmit the pull uniformly throughout not less than substantially a without substantially narrowing the opensemi-circumference thereof and being stiff ing at the lower extremity of the cap. enough to transmit the pull without sub- '5 3. A cap for bottles, of elastic material, stantlally narrowing the opening at the 15' comprising a portion for gripping the neck lower extremity of the cap. of a bottle and sealing the opening thereof, In testimony whereof I have affixed my and a tab extending laterally from the cap signature to this specification. substantially in the plane of its lowrex- 10 tremity whereby the cap may be pulled onto ELTA SIMMONS. 

